


Spectre

by lord_acies



Category: DCU (Comics), Danny Phantom, Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Gen, Warning: Danny gets angsty, given the circumstances though..., he has a point.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-08
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-09-15 20:56:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,329
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9256940
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lord_acies/pseuds/lord_acies
Summary: When Danny's life gets obliterated in the wake of a Skulker not taken seriously, the orphaned ghost-boy flees to the only person he can think to turn to, The Boy Wonder of Gotham City who invites him to join Young Justice.  This tale follows his exploits as he journeys through the episodes of Young Justice as a team member, makes new friends and tries to figure out just how much of his old life is salvageable.





	1. Introduction to Chaos

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah... This is one of my first fanfictions ever so the early chapters are pretty atrocious. Until I get a chance to clean them up... good luck.

Sam, Tucker and I were out on our usual patrols when Skulker appeared in one of Amity Park's back alleyways. "Ghost Child!!!" Skulker roared at me, making me flop out of the air like an idiot. "Nice job, Dipshit." Sam mocked, playfully tossing me the Fenton Thermos. "You've got this right?" Tucker questioned, PDA in hand, quickly pulling up the file on purple-backed gorillas. "Yeah." I muttered before Skulker decided to take the first shot. 'He knocked me pretty hard against the concrete' I thought in a stupid daze, Tuck's shout of, "Prepare to be Purple-back Gorilla-ed!" rang in my ears. "Is that even a word?" Sam questioned. Tucker took his attention away from the PDA and that was all the time Skulker needed. I ran to shove them out of the way or make the three of us intangible, but I only ended up throwing myself into Skulker's wide-bore laser cannon. It burned with the heat of a thousand suns, but only for a second. He chuckled darkly, "Since I can't have you halfa. No one can." I stood up and yelled, "What the hell was that for!!! You're supposed to be fighting me not my friends!" I expected him to sneer that if that's the case I should keep my friends out of it, but he gave me a haunted look like he'd seen a ghost. (Ha ha. Very funny.) I turned to see Tucker and Sam on the ground, burnt to a crisp, motionless. I choked a sob and let lose a wail so powerful that Skulker was knocked out and I broke every window on the block, but it wasn't until I was done screaming that I started crying my eyes out looking at the ground, and saw what I was standing in. I was intangible through a char-boiled teenage boy with jet-black hair and glazed over blue eyes. I whimpered, "I'm dead."

It wasn't long until my parents arrived being lead by the Boo-merang , muttering something about, "Danny might need our help, he's never been out crime fighting this long." Skulker was getting up, but I didn't care. Mom and Dad were there and I thought I'd be okay. That they could defend themselves and that they'd take me home. Hey, I'm only fifty percent more dead than I used to be. They walked around the corner together each with an arsenal of weapons on their backs to see the carnage that Sam, Tuck and I had been reduced to. Mom fell to her knees and started bawling. Dad simply dropped his guns in shock, running over to make sure that there was no mistake. That the corpse wasn't somebody else's kid. The blue eyes and what was left of my old signature shirt was enough to convince them, I was still crying and didn't walk over, but I just felt safe with them there. That is until Skulker shouted from the rooftop "You're the halfa's parents right?" I expected more witty cracks from him, but apparently he wasn't the same Skulker I used to fight, because he blasted my now unarmed parents without even thinking about it. Leaving five flaming, almost unrecognizable corpses on the sidewalk. My thoughts turned against me all of them screaming, "It's your fault! Run! You aren't the hero anymore! You couldn't protect them, how can you protect yourself! Run!" So I did. After hours of flying away from my problems I ended up in Gotham City. Once upon a time, I chased a crook by the name of The Gentleman Ghost from Amity to Gotham. Turns out he wasn't really a ghost, so I left it to the town's resident hero, Robin. The kid seemed smart, level-headed and very sarcastic, but caring. I don't know how, but I knew he'd know exactly what to say. He had told me, "If you need to find me, talk to Commissioner Gordon." So I fazed into Gordon's office through the window labelled "Bat-window" (I don't know why). Gordon muttered from his desk, "Robin, I know you're in here. It'd be nice if you'd start announcing yourself." without looking up. "Actually," I started, causing him to pull a gun on the unfamiliar voice, "I'm a friend of Robin's and he said you could contact him" I tried to sound as professional as possible and not as emotionally ruined as I actually was, but it was no use with Gordon who quickly saw through my weak guise. His words quickly turned softer, "Follow me to the roof." I did as he said and when we reached the roof he turned on a large flood light with a bat symbol on the front of it. "Why a bat?" I asked curiously. "Hell if I know, I think he said something about scaring the crooks." Gordon scoffed. Suddenly a large vampire like figure landed on the roof with a small red-clad teenager poking out from behind. "Robin!" I said walking over a little too fast, The Bat-like figure swiftly blocked my way with his body until Robin asked, "Danny? Is that you?" "Of course it's me bird-brain!" I quipped, "Now would you please tell Mr. Vampire here to back off?" The Vampire man backed off growling slightly, but Robin cut off his brooding by saying, "Um, remember that ghost kid hero I told you about last year. The one who was confused about the Gentleman Ghost? That's him, Batman." Oh, shit... That's what Batman looks like? I've always stuck to Amity like glue. I shuddered, thinking about the gore from earlier. Gordon took this moment of awkwardness to flip off the bat-signal and sneak downstairs. "Well, what's the problem Daniel?" Batman said curtly "Gotham doesn't take well to "capes" within her borders."

"Okay! Okay!" Robin practically shouts, "You can stop there. We know this part." "Okay, kid. We'll put you on Robin's team. Black Canary will help you train and I'll assign missions, but you're still a minor so you'll be finishing school." Batman still speaks with a growl, but the malice behind it is gone, he sounds almost concerned. "But I don't even exist anymore.." I whimpered tears threatening to flood from my eyes. "It'll be fine," Robin encourages placing a hand on my shoulder, "Plenty of people get new ID's. You'll be safe with us." He took me by the hand and lead me forward to get cleaned up and to meet "my new family" as he put it. I wish he hadn't...


	2. Welcome to Mount Justics

I decided to just turn intangible and let the gunk fall right through me to get clean and I followed Batman into Gotham City's "zeta-tube". A red-haired hyper active boy is the first to greet me, his words too fast for me to comprehend. 

Robin stepped in for me saying, "Speed down KF." 

"Oh," KF said embarrassed, "I'm Kid Flash, nice to meet you. And you are?" He offered his hand to shake and I accepted trying not to be rude. "Spectre." I improvised quickly to the crowd of super-powered teenagers.

"What are your powers" a green-clad, blonde girl said rather rudely as she popped her gum, receiving a slight elbow shove from a red-headed. green girl. 

"Rob. Hit me." I ordered more than asked. He began to wind up as dark haired buff boy with an emo vibe to him shouted "What the hell Rob!" And he looked fairly worried until he noticed Robin's fist going directly through my head. I step out of his fist and then go invisible for a second just to show I can. 

I leap into the air asking, "Got anything I can aim at?" Batman steps forward and growls, "Me." "Alright. If you say so." I mutter back not really caring. I charge up a ecto-blast in each hand and fling them at Batman. He throws his cloak in front of him and effectively blocks my shots. He turns quickly throwing three small boomerang like devices at me. I went intangible off instinct and then froze his hands together and feet to the floor. "Cryokinesis. Nice!" Robin said enthusiastically. 

Suddenly Batman's hands and feet began to glow red and the ice melted off. "I am always prepared." He stated simply, "Still good job." Addressing the entire team he explained, "This is Spectre, your new team mate. Since he doesn't have anywhere to go he'll be staying in the cave and finishing school with Superboy and Miss Martian." He then turned and left through the zeta tube. 

"Well," the green, red-headed girl said, "I'm Ms. Martian, you can call me M'egan. My powers are flight, telepathy and shape shifting. It's great to have a new full-timer in the mountain!" 

The dark haired buff guy stated curtly, "Superboy. I've got super strength." His glare is almost as unsettling as Batman's...

A composed-looking boy with gills greeted, "I'm Aqualad, and leader of this team. I have hydrokinesis and can breathe underwater. Pleasure to meet you." I nodded respectfully while shaking his hand. 

The hyperactive boy started, "I'm Kid Flash, but you can call me KF. I have superspeed." "I guessed as much." I muttered. 

The green archer chic simply uttered, "Artemis, nice to meet you." I felt the need to re-introduce myself so I did, "I'm Spectre, you've seen all my powers except my gh- um... Sonic Screech and you can call me Danny." 

"Dude, that sounds really cool." KF said. 

"Knock yourself out, nothing's glass in here anymore." Robin muttered adding a semi-dramatic sigh at the end. 

"You'll need ear plugs." I warned. KF ran to get some and passed them out. As soon as everyone was safe I let out the soul-shattering scream that I've been holding in for a while. Everyone excluding Robin looked dumb-founded that such a small teen could produce such a wail. 

KF took out his ear plugs and encouraged, "That was awesome, you could put Black Canary to shame with that."


	3. New Home, sweet New Home?

I sat down in the almost bare room that M'egan had lead me to. It was slightly bigger than my bedroo-... I saw my eyes flash in the mirror as I tried not to cry at the thought. 

I looked up at my reflection realizing that it wasn't the same anymore, my hair was white, but also pale blue, my eyes were bright, vibrant green, but a second ago they had flashed completely black, my once barely-tan skin had turned an unhealthy pale and in my mouth, that was hanging open dumb-founded at my new look, were a pair of small fangs. My uniform had turned into a black hoodie lined in ecto-plasmic green, a pair of goth-y skinny jeans and black leather combat boots. 

"Why not?" I thought, getting a little hysterical, "It's just fuckin perfect. Nobody will recognize me. This is just Great!" 

Over my new bed there was small green, black and mostly white dream catcher. 'I wonder who put that there?'. There is a small tag hanging from it, it reads: "Welcome to the mountain! -M'egan" In pretty loopy handwriting. And then "M'egan wanted help with the colors. I picked them so you don't forget. -Rob" In his angular and striking handwriting, he even looped a circle around the 'R' in his name to match the one on his uniform. I pulled the tag off and tucked it under the mattress so no one would know. 

On the desk next to the bed was a laptop computer with a post-it that said, "Read up on our villains tonight. -Batman". Unlike Robin and M'egan, Batman's writing is in sloppy, but passable cursive. I snicker to myself, imagining Ms. Machuga slamming a ruler over Batman's wrists for his penmanship. I push the laptop and note to the side and then turn my attention to the leather-bound, pad locked journal next to it. I gently use the key on the cover to open it up and find a note written in it's cover, "That haunted look you have... I've only seen it in my own reflection before. I don't quite know what happened to you, but I do know that sometimes it's easier to write than it is to talk. -Artemis (P.S. Don't tell anyone and I won't either.)" 

I went intangible and placed the key gently behind the wall next to the desk. 'Looks like I've got a lot of reading tonight, but first I'm gonna grab a snack.' I decide, knowing that when I'm busy I don't have as much time to think, much less cry. 

I phase through my door, bumping into Artemis who was walking by. "Um, thanks Artemis" I said scratching the back of my head innocently. "Sure thing, but remember. It will only last so long, eventually they'll figure it out." She warns. 

I hover downstairs to see Robin, Superboy, M'egan and Aqualad watching "The Breakfast Club" in the den, ghosting by, only Robin seems to notice. 

Finding my way into the kitchen I catch Kid Flash raiding the pantry, back turned to me. With my intangibility I simply snag a package of Oreos through him and he shudders. With an impossible to follow move he spins and only catches his fist an inch from my face. "What the hell man!?!" He shouts, with a look plastered across his features that betray the shock that he almost hit an ally with what was likely full force. 

"I didn't wanna bug you." I answered softly trying to calm down the situation. "It just seemed... Easier."

"It's fine. You didn't know. It's just my nemesis likes to rip out people's hearts like that. I thought it was him..." his eyes darkened as he muttered his explanation. I couldn't think of anything to say so I just hugged him and he didn't protest. A couple "bro pats" on the back and it was over. "Next time, just ask me to move. It'll be quick as a Flash." he snickers lightly at his own bad pun. I grin and turn to leave, but he interrupts me. "Hey Danny, you wanna go play that new racing game with me?" 

I smile, half-hearing Tucker's voice behind his. "Sure, I'd love to." 

Looks like Batman's homework is going to have to wait...


	4. Black Canary's Crossfit (just kidding!) :P

A intercom system blared into life warning in a feminine voice, "Today's sparring training starts in five minutes! Don't be late." I got up out of bed. I hadn't slept all night. That's particularly Kid Flash's fault cause we were up til one in the morning with "Just one more race" pleads, the other half was that I couldn't stop thinking about what will happen when they all find out. They welcomed me so quickly and they are pretty good at distracting me from, grr... I shake my head as if to try and knock the thought from my head. "No. I'm fine. I'm fine. I WILL NOT CRY!" I convince myself, mentally screaming so that I don't tear up. I don't want to look like an idiot at training today.

I realize that my hoodie is probably not good for sparring practice so I unzipped it to find a gray sports-style tank top with green detailing down the sides. Cool. I stuggled to pull the jacket off, but it wouldn't come off. "Fuck!" I cursed mentally, "They are gonna find out! Shit! Shit! Shit!" I zipped up my hoodie quickly and phased through the door. I ran halfway downstairs and jumped into flight before I realized, "I have no idea where I'm going and I'm already late." 

I flew around phasing through walls on the first floor until I heard the feminine voice from before shout, "Since you're late, you're up first Spectre!" I hover mid-air for a second and then eased down on to the sparring mat. 

"This is the sparring mat," she introduced, "it will track your wins and losses against other heroes. There are some rules however, there will be no broken bones, concussions, pressure point-ing, Robin, and above all else no superpowers. Got that?" I nod quickly, taking up a stance similar to that I've seen Robin use before realizing that I've scarcely ever fought without using my powers, I mean sure I've only ever had a human-strength punch, but I've charged it with ecto-blasts or flown into it. 

As I pondered this she took her invitation to make the first move. She swung her leg high and I managed to duck it and then punch her in the shoulder. She must have expected me to do that because, while my blow hit, she grabbed my outstretched arm and flipped me over her shoulder and hard onto the mat. The computer system uncaringly remarked, "Failure: Spectre" 

She offers to help me up and remarks, "You are so confident in your attacks that you don't block." 

"No," I argue aggravatedly walking up to a training dummy, "I'm used to hitting like this." I punch with an ecto-blast full blast, hitting the dummy with all my frustration. Which sends it smoking through the air and slamming violently into the wall. She looked shocked that I'd do that so I sheepishly ramble, "It's just, I've never fought without my powers. I've never even fought when it wasn't knock him out or be killed. I didn't have any training..." I didn't mean to tell her that much, but ahhhhh......

"Alright, Let's try something else then." She said slyly. She walked us into a high-tech looking room with plain white walls. "A little birdy told me that you have a super sonic scream like mine. Since you don't like fighting without powers let's see you just use your voice." She mocks. 

Everyone else must have decided this was this their chance to leave and not be subject to the deafening noise because they scurried out the door as soon as we took our positions.

Canary motioned for me to go first, so I tentatively let lose my ghostly wail once more waiting for her to run for cover or to clasp her ears as they bled, but she stood as still as a stone wall. I stop abruptly and cock my head at her like a confused puppy. She grins, (like the cat that ate the Canary *snicker*), "Nice try kiddo. Now. It's my turn." She shrieks at such a high pitch that it doesn't sound like a scream at all. Not that I was paying much attention as I had to let out a scream of my own. It's easy to tell who's winning because we can see the wind from our clashing wails hitting the wall and shaking the white paneling. 

She has a slight advantage, but I know I need to win this to win her respect. Dredging up memories of the times I've used my wail, I think about Dan and the nasty burger paradox and hit a more soulless note which pushed the clashing wind back to the middle ground between us. For the first time I truly understood what made my wail powerful. It's my sorrow and anguish. The most powerful it's ever been was when they were going to die. No. It was after they all did. I thought about the looks on their faces, the charred corpses of Sam and Tucker and just how far I'm gonna stick Skulker's gun up his ass the next time I see him. I didn't realize how far I had advanced until Canary hit the wall, mostly because I was trying to wipe away the tears that were streaming down my face. I composed myself and then went to help her up. 

She chuckles, "Congrats kid. Nobody's ever beat me at that before, but you still need to work on sparring. I don't know if you've ever heard of an 'inhibitor collar', but it is too easy for a villain to block your powers." So that's why she was making me fight without powers... "Thanks" I grin halfheartedly.

I walked out to face a incredibly surprised team. "Nice one Spectre!" Kid Flash congratulated. Robin was visibly shocked, which is usually hard to tell from behind those dark shades of his, but obvious this time because his mouth was uncharacteristically hanging wide open. Aqualad looked respectful, but he always does. Artemis scoffed indignantly, but M'egan looked embarrassed. I heard something about her liking to bake from Wally last night so I asked, "Hey M'egan! Wanna help me bake some cookies?" She snapped out of her train of thought and muttered, "huh?.... Sure!"

As soon as we were in the kitchen I closed the door and grabbed the flour and sugar from the pantry where I saw it last night. "Would you get the mixer and mixing bowl?" I ask, not knowing where they are kept. "Um... okay." She agrees nervously. I put the ingredients on the cleared counter and catch her shoulder. "What is it?" I wonder aloud to her, "You've been acting weird ever since I fought Canary. Should I have let her win?" 

"Danny," she whimpers, "I am so sorry! You looked so serious and I couldn't help myself... I peeked. I know that it was wrong of me and I wish I hadn't. I'm sorry for your loss." I let her go and take a step back. She knows!!! "How much did you see?" I almost growl, feeling mentally violated. "Your parents, your friends, you shoving a weird looking gun so far up the rear end of an even weirder looking villain so far that it came out his mouth. I must say, as gruesome as that looked, he definitely deserves it." She admits. Okay. Okay. Okay. I'm safe, but I should "come clean" to the others with what she's discovered. "It's okay," I console, "I was planning on telling you all eventually, but please don't do it again. It's kinda invasive." I explain to the alien girl. 

She gives me a huge hug and I smile in earnest for the first time in a while. "Let's get these cookies made!" She says back in her usual cheer.


	5. Interrupted Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter had to happen... Please bare with me. It had to happen I swear...

I was working up the nerve to tell them others the secret M'egan discovered when a deep voice bellowed over the loudspeakers that I was to report to the mission room. "What does he want with just me?" I wonder as I pull M'egan's second favorite apron off over my head. I stalk over to the mission area with an odd feeling like I just know M'egan is going to burn the cookies. 

I walk in to find none other than Vlad Masters standing next to Batman with a smug look on his face. Instincts kick in and I fire off three ecto-blasts at him. He transforms in his ghost form and blocks them with ease. Batman doesn't even seem fazed he merely states, "He's your legal guardian now. Here's the paperwork to prove it. Don't break anything." He drops the manilla file on table and casually walks out as if he hasn't left me alone with my nemesis. 

"What the fuck Vlad!!!" I yell, "What, you think that everything will be fine? Things will go back to normal? New flash! Everyone's fucking dead." He winces, but then he looks up with the eyes of a beaten puppy, a look I only saw when he explained Dan's origins. 

He mutters, "I found Jazz... drinking herself sick in your room. She thought you were dead Daniel. That everyone who cared about her was gone." I pale, "No..." I whimper. "You have to take me to her!!!" He doesn't move. "Now Frootloop!!!" I shake him. His eyes flick up to me as he snaps out of his reverie, "Sure Badger." He says cooly, picking up his old demeanor as a mask. I dash out to go find Batman, but he finds me first. He answers a question I've yet to ask, "I've arranged for you to take a personal day. Go."

Hours of flying later we finally reach Vlad's Mansion and we phase through the door. Vlad switches back to his human form and reminds, "Now Daniel, I believe you've forgotten our little agreement. No ghosting in the house." "As long as you don't pull some evil bullshit, I remember. Unfortunately, that's not exactly an option for me anymore." I quip quickly before thinking about what I'm actually saying. He looks shocked, "Badger... You mean you're..." He stopped, at a loss for words. "Yeah Frootloop. I kicked the bucket for real this time; not a halfa anymore. You're one of a kind again." I growl. He reaches out as if to offer some sort of affection, but I turn intangible and wander off to find Jazz. 

I walk into a room upstairs to find Jazz reading a book on an alarmingly pink bed that was surrounded by moving boxes. I didn't know what to say, Hey there Jazz! I'm dead and it might be my fault that our parents, Sam and Tucker are!!! Ugh... "Hey Jazz... Whatcha reading?" I ask trying to keep it simple. "Not much. Just-" She froze mid-sentence. "Danny. That's it... I'm fuckin losing it." She says darkly to herself. "Wow" I tease,"Nice to see you too!" "You're dead. I'm nuts. Leave me alone." She growls. "I'm really here. Look! New costume! Why would you imagine that?" I reason. I grab her arm and hug her tightly. "Jazz, I need you. Everyone else is dead. Please don't ignore me." Her cold glare finally falters and she hugs me with all her might, "I missed you too little bro."

Eventually, after a lot of catching up, Vlad calls dinner. I grab Jazz's hand and phase us through the wall into the enormous dining hall. "Badger, please keep to using the doors. You don't know if I've got guests." Vlad sighed. We sit down at the take out Chinese food spread and he pressingly asks, "Are you going to tell your side of the story Daniel?" I freeze and whimper, "He killed them. He killed me... I ran as far as I could. I didn't know what to do then and I still don't." "Who the hell is responsible." He growls in a manner that almost rivals Batman. "Skulker." I hiss, "He got the drop on us. I couldn't save..." I trail off. Vlad got up dramatically and shifted into his ghost form, "I'm gonna put his fucking pelt on my wall." He swears. He storms off leaving me and Jazz alone. 

"You're dead?!" She squeaks in shock. "Yeah. I've got a new costume and name now." Looks up from the chow mein she'd been picking at with interest. "I'm Spectre now. I joined a team of other teenaged heroes and they're pretty cool." I explain. "You mean those sidekicks that made up a Junior Justice League a few months back?" She questions curiously. 

"The same!" I reply. "Their leader is really nice and remember that tuxedo wearing ghost guy I tracked to Gotham?" She nods "Well the hero I met there is on the team! There is even someone with a sonic screech like mine." I excitedly tell her, glad to have my sister back. "I've got the day off today, but I've got to be back tomorrow during the day." I mumble. "Aww..." she groans. "Don't worry! It's basically school hours. Now that I'm dead I don't have to go!" I joke quickly. She laughs halfheartedly. "Heh. Spectre: Full time Hero." She jokes back.


	6. ugh...

I wake to a blinding headache and a face full of sand. "Where the hell am I? What happened to Amity Park?" I mutter as I dust the sand out of my face. Suddenly I hear a familiar voice whine, "It's September? What happened to March?" Rounding the corner I go to see who it is but he pulls something metallic and dangerous looking from his belt. "Robin?" I ask tentatively. "Phantom. What's up with the costume change?" he jokes easily. I look down. "Why do I look like an emo punk?" I think out loud and Robin giggles. "I take it you've got no idea what we are doing here?" he gets serious quickly. "No clue." I affirm. "Better radio Batman... Or not." he decides. "Why not?" I urge. We are lost in the desert and Mom will chew me out if I brake curfew again. "I remember Batman ordering radio silence but that's it..." he explains before deftly flipping down off the rock jut I'm standing on. I float down behind him and run into him when he stops short. "What was that for?" I complain. He ignores me, "What's this?" he muses while brandishing a ripped piece of fabric with the Superman symbol on it. I have no answer and he just stuffs it in his pocket. "So what are we going to do?" I grab his shoulder, stopping him in his tracks. "Dude. Why are you so cold? We are in a frickin desert." he deadpannedly asks "I'm a ghost with ice powers. Kinda speaks for itself. Speaking of..." I trail off as I make a few ice cubes and hand them to Robin. "It's pretty hot out here and I don't think we've had water in a while." I explain. Robin takes them gratefully. We continue to walk in silence until I ask again, "What's your plan again?" "Oh, Um... I left a gps marker up ahead and I want to find out what it is."

We clear a ridge and I quip, "Heh, guess that's why." there is a large piece of tech that looks like a remote base for an operation inside a small crater in the sand. As soon as we reach the center armed soldiers leap out of the sand with guns, shouting in a foreign language and then they attack. Robin throws a smoke bomb directly at his feet and I go intangible to avoid the smog that leaves everyone else in a coughing fit. Hearing the sound of fists thudding against Kevlar I leap into fight mode, even if my main fare is of the ghostly variety I do owe Rob for his help with the Gentlemen Ghost case. Robin mostly holds his own and I hit the disarmed ones with an ecto-blast. All's well until they decide to start firing on us. Then a blur of bright red and black flies in at an unbelievable speed and suddenly most of the soldiers are unarmed. I was about to throw up an ecto-shield, but this gave me the chance to blast them all. I wasn't watching my back though and two men snuck up on me. Just as I went intangible a mysterious force flung them into the distance. Before I even had time to process an arrow flew past my head to nail a guy Robin had missed.

With the end of the fight, Robin finally calmed down and shouted excitedly, "KF! Man it's good to see a familiar face!" "Hey Rob! Memory loss?" he said conversationally. "Six months! Let's hogtie these creeps and compare notes." I guess that they know each other, but the blond archer and floating green chic behind "KF" are totally weird. The electric green color on the archers outfit reminds me of Skulker's mohawk and I'm suddenly thrown into a memory. I'm standing in a pile charred meat with the small of burnt flash on my nose. I'm crying my eyes out and I've never felt more miserable and alone in my entire life. My parents round the corner and scream at the horror before them, dropping their weapons. Skulker cackles before brutally murdering them in front of my eyes. Then I open my eyes and I'm back in the sand. I stumble slightly and Robin notices but says nothing. That's fine, I don't have time to freak about this. Whatever snagged months from our heads could probably plant some false ones or I'm just remembering one of Clockwork's bad ends. The important thing is getting out of here.

I grab two baddies and toss them towards the pile KF is making and rejoin the group. Robin and the alien chic are already talking. "So we're a team?" "The five of us and Superboy." she stresses "Then this must be his!" Robin offers her the S symbol we saw earlier. "Yes! Did you see him?" she sounds too excited, is that her "superboy-friend"? I giggle at my own pun, but they don't see. "Yeah, I think we did!" the archer says helpfully. "Feral boy? Some teammate. He attacked us!" KF teases. The archer defends, "He doesn't know who we are. I don't know who we are!" "I remember Batman ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him!" Robin says attempting to help, but it only riles KF's either ego or effort to impress the archer girl, "Now how do you know we don't work for my mentor?" he says tapping his chest for emphasis. He pressed a button on his costume though and it turned from stealthy black to bright yellow. Everyone else trys it, but they just look ridiculous and the archer tells KF off. Wow she's bossy. "We need our memories back!" The archer whines.

Suddenly we are thrown into a weird world that kinda looks like the ghost zone except purple and filled with broken monitors that show what I assume are memories of us. There's one of me with the team having some cookies! The alien chic arrives in a flash of white light, but she's wearing a hood and has red eyes. "I have brought you into my mind to show you what I've remembered so far, but I need your help together our broken memories should form a whole if you open your minds to mine." "You want to paw though our private thoughts?" the archer says disgusted. "I have no wish to intrude, but" she gets cut off by Robin, "You need to hack our minds to find out what happened to us. Got it. Go!" He encorages her. KF agrees, "My brains all yours. Try not to let it's brillance overwhelm you." Player. I snort. "Or underwhelm you." Robin jokes. "Hey why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" KF grabs the archer's hand and she agrees with some conditions. I nod my acceptance, but I feel odd. Like I should be hiding something. Whatever. I just want this to be over so that I can go home, but this whole team thing is weird. Did I manage to plug the ghost zone?


	7. Bialia

The psychic paws through our heads and it leaves me with a disgusted feeling. Guess Freakshow left a bad taste in my brain. She shows us the teams past, their first mission at Cadmus, the arrival of Superboy and many recon missions. Oh my goodness, we forgot about Aqualad. Then it switches to my POV and my memory from earlier plays. One second I'm fighting Skulker, the next we are all dead. There's no blood but the smell of burnt flesh has half the team choking back vomit. Turning tail I ran to the only person I could think of, Robin. They had me join the team.

Soon the flashbacks cease and I'm back in the desert, but tears are running down my cheeks. Quickly wiping them off I stand up straighter and wave off their looks of pity. "Alright, we have a Atlantian somewhere in the desert and we have to find him fast. Any leads Robin?" I assert myself in order to avoid it. "He wandered in that direction." Robin half-heartedly waves his hand in a general direction. "But what about Superboy!!" Miss Martian questions in a light, concerned voice. "He's been kidnapped!" I give her the biggest "eat shit" look and growl, "He's indestructible. Kaldur is dying..." She falters backwards and nods acceptance. "Alright, M'egan go get the bio ship stealthily. We'll find Kaldur, I may be a walking ice pack, but he'll probably need medical attention." I plan before stalking off in the direction Robin pointed out earlier.

I quickly turn invisible and intangible and take to the sky. In the distance there is a dark figure collapsed on the slope of a sand dune that conveniently hides him from the base. Lowering myself back down to a few inches off the ground I relay the info to the remaining team members. We race towards Kaldur's position and when we get there he's not looking so hot. I immediately chill the air around us and everyone lets out a sigh of relief. I shoulder most of the Atlantian's weight as we stagger back to out starting point and M'egan. Kaldur shifts slightly and murmurs something in Atlantian that I don't understand. "Come on Kaldur. English please." I grumble back. He curses in a soft voice and attempts to squirm out of my grasp. Robin rushes forward, "Aqua-lad. It's me, Robin. We are on a mission in the desert and you got lost and dehydrated. We are getting you to somewhere safe." He relaxes slightly and nods.

A few minutes later M'egan returns with the bio-ship and Robin helps me set up a bed and an IV drip for Kaldur. He's still delirious, but at least he's safe-ish. What's left on the list?

Rescue Kaldur... Check  
Rescue Superboy... X  
Beat up the psychic... X  
Escape... X  
Have a mental breakdown... X

Let's safe that last one until I get back to my room at Mount Justice.

"So next order of business. How do we rescue Conner?" Miss Martian chirps cheerfully. "Stealthily." I quip with a small fake grin flashing. Everyone looks at me as if I'm supposed to have a better plan than that so quickly whip one up.

"Robin, Wally, stay here and keep an eye on Aqualad. When he wakes up he's bound to be confused. Miss Martian, Artemis and I will make the rescue party. If we aren't back in an hour go home and get your mentors." Robin makes to challenge that last bit, but I cut him off. "That way they'll have intel and not get caught like we were." I finish and Robin nods convinced.

Miss Martian and I take to the skies. I'm both intangible and invisible, but that won't hide the cold signature radiating from me. Not to mention Artemis is riding on my back, her fingernails digging into my shoulders. She's lucky I'm more focused than I used to be. If I wasn't paying as much attention then I might drop her intangiblity and she'd fall right through me. I shudder slightly from thinking about my past and she digs her nails in further. Usually I'd mutter something along the lines of "I'm not going to drop you." or "What? Scared of heights?", but the psychic link was down. Not an awful idea considering it was what got us caught the first time around.

Storming the outpost was simple, but the second that M'egan attempted to contact Conner through the link Psimon caught her. They appear to be in a mind battle (not the most fun thing, Nocturne was the worst), but other guards are staying out of it. Looks like it will be Psimon's pride that does him in. I set Artemis down silently in the rafters, motioning for her to shoot at three of the guards while I take out the other three from behind. We move in perfect sync and drop the guards before they even realize we're here. Thinking quickly I sweep the feet out from underneath Psimon and his skull makes an unpleasant sound as it slams into the dirt floor. Being the nice hero that I am I set him up with a nice ice pack before rushing over to tend to Miss Martian.

"You okay M'egan?" I nervously question. Her eyes flicker out of her daze and she quickly answers, "Huh? Oh! Yes, I'm fine. How's Superboy?!?" I gesture vaguely towards the restraint system and she rushes over and, well I assume she restored his memory because he didn't try to kill us outright.

The trek back to the bioship was claustrophobic and boring. Since Miss Martian can't carry Conner we all had to walk. And since I'm the living popsi-

I'm cold. We're in the desert. Do the math.

Anyway it sucked, but now we are on to the fourth part of the list, escape. We loaded up on to the bio-ship to find Aqualad and Robin having a nice conversation about philosophy while Kid Flash sat quietly in the corner pouting. I'm certain there's a great story behind that but I am not in the mood. Miss M gives Kaldur his memories back and then we book it out of there. I hover in the back silently until Robin comes over and rummages through the mini-fridge next to me. Sliding the plethora of water bottles to the side he picks out a RC cola and holds another one out to me. And I wave it away. "I'm a ghost... I don't need it." I mutter dejectedly. He's still persistent though and he shoves it into my hands replying pointedly with, "Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it." He smiles widely, not his scary fake one, but a real one before he snags another Cola and a water. Tossing them to Wally and Kaldur respectively. Taking a sip out of his drink he grins, "I'm not supposed to have these either." I quirk up an eyebrow. "Batman's always on a health kick. On the records the only sweets I get are Agent A's homemade cookies." I laugh for the first time in a while. "I swear on my grave I won't tell." I remark as straight-facedly as I can (just barely serious) before erupting into giggles. He chuckles back, tossing his finished can into the trash can with precision aim. I fist bump him and smile. Looks like I've made a friend.

We arrive back by the time that I'm three-quarters the way through with the soda and we are all called down to debrief immediately. I quickly chug the last of my drink and stuff the empty can in my jacket pocket so we don't get busted. Then again, it's Batman. Slouching at attention I listen in while Kaldur and Robin explain the details of the mission. Then Robin starts mentioning about how I took up leadership and prioritized well and I start blushing slightly. How am I even doing that? It's embarrassing AND scientifically impossible, then again so are about half the things I do. Batman nods along to Robin's explanations, but he doesn't miss how embarrassed I am. Finally we are permitted to go up to our rooms and I sit the empty can on the desk as reminder.

Things are looking up.


	8. Responsibilty

Tonight, after everyone was done goofing off, someone came knocking at my door. I stick my head through the door to find our leader, Aqualad.

"Ugh, It appears we will have to give you the same speech we gave Miss Martian about power abuse... But that's not why I'm here. May I come in?" He spoke as eloquently as ever.

"Uh... sure." I say slowly before popping back into my room, opening the door for him and pulling out a chair for him.

He wants to offer the only seat to me, but I simply sit on air. He looks vaguely uncomfortable.

"Um..." He hums looking for the right words.

"Is this too distracting?" I ask for him so he doesn't think himself rude.

"Yeah..."

I nod and float down to sit on the edge of the bed facing him.

"You uh... You did very well today leading the team. While it is I who is supposed to be leading, I'd like it if you were my second in command."

"Wha- no... I couldn't." I immediately say no. I've only been on this team for a few days. And I was kind of a dick in Bialya because of my.... revelation.

"That is why you must." he places his hand on my shoulder. "You had a hard day today and we all know it, but you were able to make orders and prioritize despite it. Everyone got out alive. You were a good leader while I was one of M'egan's tv damsels in distress..." He ends with a disappointed tone in his voice.

"Kaldur. One day we'll be stuck somewhere and I'll have the disadvantage and you'll get to bail me out. You just weren't lucky today, that's why you have a team." I affirm. "If you still want me as your right hand man, I'll be there, but I still think you should ask Batman and Robin first."

His expression gets lighter and he nods thankfully. "I'll do that. Just try not to look so embarrassed when I do call you out."

"Shit! Did everyone see that!!!?"

"Yeah... Heh. Good night, Daniel." and with that he heads off; leaving me to my thoughts.

Oh crud. Everyone's going to bed... What am I supposed to do now? 

I could go back to memorizing every supervillian alias and power in the league's system.... but..... On the other hand I could try and figure out if ghosts can sleep.

Damn it! I should have said 'rest in peace'. Heh. There is a whole new world of killer puns at my disposal. You'd have to be lifeless to not laugh at that one! I giggle along to my own thoughts and jump up onto the bed in the center of the room, a cheery weightless feeling tugs at my chest and my eyes widen as gravity slows down for me... A knee-jerk reaction of "I'm not supposed to be doing this here" and I am bouncing lightly on the bed. 

And on that harsh note I lay down and try to sleep, sure I've gone five days without it already, but I'm starting to get that tired, dreary feeling that I've only felt before when my ghost sense wakes me up at four in the morning for a harmless ectopus. It hazes over everything and every instinct screams 'Go the hell to sleep' in my face, but to say I've been busy would be an understatement.

It isn't until the clock in the corner of my room reads, 12:01, that I start to realize that this just isn't working. Whatever, at the very least I can sit still, rest my eyes and try to get some quiet time. It's not all that dissimilar to that meditation thing that Sa- um... a friend of mine was into for a while. The hours blur together as I focus on nothing. And eventually, while I'm not paying attention, I finally fall asleep.

The very next morning I awaken to an announcement about team training down at the sparring mats. I've slept in way too late. (bad habits die hard. Heh...) Luckily for me I still haven't figured out this whole ghostly costume change thing, so I'm already dressed and able to phase through the building, and get to the training room 'as the crow flies'. M'egan, Wally, Robin and Kaldur slide into a defensive stances easily and I'm almost offended for a second, but then I realize I am currently floating at eye level and sticking half way out of a wall. Whoops?

Kaldur frowns, "Uh... Danny. You should probably stop doing that." he berates with the same superior tone that Lancer used to use meaning 'I already told you once, do I REALLY have to repeat myself?' M'egan has suddenly taken interest in the training room floor.

"Why? Too spooky for you?" I stick my tongue out with the simple retort that was on my lips just waiting to be unleashed. Belatedly, I realize I might have ticked off M'egan, but when I glance over at her she's stifling a giggle with a real smile.

"No, but it's a bad habit to casually use powers, because it offends some heroes and might use them by accident" Robin explains gently after Kaldur gave him a 'help me' look. Rob clearly means 'tired and stuck my arm through the desk to get my pencil rather than get out of my chair and kneel on the floor' accident and not 'can't fully contain my powers and accidentally freeze over an entire greenhouse' accident, but that's not as easy to wave off so I'll play dumb and offended.

"Well, I don't think I'll use my powers by accident. They've only been out of control when I was sick and well... I really don't think dead kids can get sick." I roll my eyes. And Kaldur looks like he's still not assured. I land pointedly and hold my hands up in defeat. "Chill Kaldur, if it offends heroes I'll keep them in check out of battle. It'll be hard though..."

Flying's in my nature, and when I'm too emotional out comes a ghostly wail. I get too scared and literally disappear. However, it's nothing I haven't had to do before. I just thought that it wouldn't matter around heroes.

Kaldur and Robin nod at my agreement.

Finally Conner and Artemis walk in followed by Black Canary.

"Late!" Wally jokes with a grin.

"Yes, yes I am, but who will I pick to spar?" Black Canary glares pointedly at him with wicked smile. I do hope she's just pretending to be scary.

Robin volunteers in Wally's place and the match draws out for eight minutes before Robin tricks her and she fails to recover in time.

"Fail. Black Canary." the robotic voice announces as she hits the mat. We are all dead silent until she chuckles, "What does that make us now Robin?"

He offers her a hand up and she accepts it easily. "Twenty-one to nineteen. My lead." he smiles.

Holy shit... Robin is that good!?!?! I just assumed he got lucky. Black Canary's voice catches my attention, "Spectre. Kid Flash. You're up."

Okay. Good call, put me against a guy who relys on his powers to bail him out. Then again, he's been training with her longer. I'm still at a disadvantage.

He takes his standard stance at his end of the sparring mat as I choose a subtly defensive stance. 

The electronic voice signals the beginning of the fight and Wally does exactly what I thought he would. He lunges quickly at me with a right hook. I dodge simply and he skids into a defensive position which I take as my cue to attack. I sharply move from a simple block to a jabbing punch. I have to really focus to make sure I don't accidentally charge it with ecto-energy. Wally tries to dodge, but still gets a hit to his shoulder.

He takes three quick slides back and I don't chase him. Instead being a gentleman and allowing him to stretch out his shoulder. I guess I still hit pretty hard. He motions for me to move in a goofy kung-fu kind of way and I rush him fish held high. He runs at me too and I get confused but don't let up. Instead of hitting me or blocking he swipes my legs out from under me and I hit the ground pretty hard.

Wally chuckles, "Heh, the bad guys usually get me with that move", before he offers me a hand up, "Glad I finally wasn't on the receiving end."

I let him help me and then dust myself off. "Why can't we train against each other with powers?" I whine.

Black Canary glares back, "Because someone will get hurt if you do. None of you know you're own strength well enough and in this type of training I'm able to intervene if you about to wound your teammate."

"Yeah... You're right." I agree sheepishly. What? It's not my fault that I've never had to worry about killing my opponent before!! They've all either been already dead or too damn good!

Training for the day ends and M'egan suggests we watch a movie as a team. Which immediately has everyone chattering about which one we should watch.

I turn towards Artemis as we walk and she suggests Robin Hood: Men in Tights. I snort.

So I suggest, "How about Poltergeist?" while sticking my tongue out.

She giggles while hip checking me to the side. As she shoves me I go intangible instinctively and skid into the air while laughing. When I realize what I'm doing I become tangible again and land.

However Artemis confused expression doesn't stop. She snorts jokingly, "What? Was that offensive to ghosts? Come out where we can see you."

Confusion crosses my face, "Artemis, what the hell? I'm right here." I say gesturing to myself with red gloved hands... "HOLY SHIT F*CK!!!" I shout as I slide out of Wally's form. I barely manage to catch him before he hits the ground. Suddenly a barrage of words tumble out of my mouth. "Wally! Are you okay! I'm so sorry. I totally didn't see you there. I didn't mean to I swear! They usually don't pass out like that!!! What the heck happened?" Conner has slid as far away as he can get, but I'm not all that worried about that at the moment.

Robin mutters a reminder, "You don't breathe Danny..."

Green eyes flutter open and Wally stares a moment before rasping flatly, "What the Hell was that!"

I back up, shuffling my feet and not meeting his eyes, "I may... have overshadowed you..."

"You mean you possessed him!" Robin jokes, "Don't go full Poltergeist on us now." He cracks his trademark grin.

"Are you still going to deny the supernatural?" M'egan quips at Wally.

The speedster stops looking dumbstruck and finally finds his footing. "I'm certain I can find an explanation for this. Just... not right now."

Kaldur rests his hand on my shoulder, "Friend, I was unaware that was one of your powers." he comments, half accusation and half wondering if he just wasn't paying enough attention during introductions.

I bristle and try to explain myself, I just... I don't want them afraid of me, "Listen, I'm not proud of it, but it's something I can do. It's something I know better than to abuse. I really don't mean to scare anyone..." I can't meet anyone's eyes. They are probably going to hate me now. I know I would...

"It's cool Danny. You're as dangerous as Casper." Robin says sticking his tongue out as I glance up to make sure he really means it.

Conner looks confused, "Who's Casper?" what the heck? A few seconds ago he looked scared enough to rip me molecule from molecule. Now he's questioning Robin about a poorly animated halloween film?

"Ladies and Gentlemen. It appears our movie for the night has been chosen." Wally uses a showman's voice and waves his arm theatrically.

I groan in unison with the rest of the team and it appears as though I've been forgiven, but I still feel bad. Although, if I'm being honest with myself, it was nice to be flesh and blood and for a moment.


	9. Targets

Last night I had thought it would be smart to set an alarm for once. I plead momentary insanity for that one. It's good that it's pretty clear now that I need sleep. Maybe not as much as I used to, but definitely a nice thing. I was almost worried that I might just haze off into one of those pathetic blob ghosts that I hunted so often.

I stumble downstairs for some much deserved caffeine -Hey! It's not like it's going to stunt my growth! Wait... am I ever going to get any taller? What if I look like a freshman forever?! ... whoops, off topic. heh.- and I overhear Aqualad answering a late call for intel with the league's database to... someone? I don't catch much of the beginning of the conversation.

"Cheshire is 1.67 meters." Aqualad responds boredly.

The mystery voice pauses a moment "Umm." as I walk around the corner from the stairwell to see a bit of playfulness light up in our otherwise Batman-esque leader's eyes.

"She is 5' 6"." he amends with a light smile before getting back to business. "And exceptionally dangerous. Do you require backup." he states more than asks.

"Please. The last thing I need is the Junior Justice League." He tries for a flippant remark but it has too much malice to it.

"Just our computer." Kaldur he bites back at him before sounding weirdly enough, caring, "Good luck my friend. Aqualad out." He cuts out the comm linkup with a swish of his hand and a pleasant look still on his face, until he catches my movement out of the corner of his eye and spins to face me.

He seems to be trying to figure out what to say before I cut him off with, "So... Who's your 'friend' that you just HAVE to talk to at this ungodly hour?" with the intonation of a wife who's caught her spouse chatting up another chic.

He snorts a giggle, "Just an old friend of mine. When we all moved up to Young Justice he had a falling out with his mentor and struck out as his own hero. Since then I've been slipping him intel and making sure he doesn't do anything reckless. If their is no other options? I make sure he has backup." He sounds like an older sibling worrying over their little brother. It's nice. Up until now I have only really seen the stern leader Kaldur, now I kinda get a glimpse of the overprotective dad-friend side of him.

"Ready of school? I made our lunches!" M'egan cheerfully exclaims as she flies down the staircase with Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado in tow. 

"The first day of the scholastic season carries great cultural resonance. We want to wish you three well." Manhunter says calmly; somehow managing to not sound pretentious despite the fact that he must have snorted a thesaurus before he walked in.

"Guess it's not a Kryptonian thing..." Superboy mutters.

"You may wish to, uh... change before you depart." Aqualad gestures as if that were obvious.

"Oh! I spent hours choosing this outfit!" M'egan quickly shifts her uniform to a simple white shirt with a pink jacket over it and a matching pink skirt. She looks nice, but she forgot something. She's green. She turns to Aqualad with puppy dog eyes and a pleading gesture. "What do you think? Can M'egan M'orr'is pass as an earth girl now?"

Aqualad has a apologetic look on his face "Well..." But she quickly cuts him off with a playful "Just kidding!"

With a twirl and a curtsy she introduces herself, "Meet Megan Morris!", before turning to Superboy asking him what his new name will be.

"I choose the name John Jones for myself and suggested John Smith for Red Tornado. You could be a John too." Manhunter offers with a kind smile.

The grumpy kryptonian rolls his eyes and decisively groans, "Pass." crossing his arms defiantly.

Megan lays her hand on his shoulder and says, "Conner has always been my favorite name." Manhunter looks less peeved with Superboy's existence when he shrugs in agreement.

"A last name will also be required." Aqualad gestures in their general direction with the outward appearance of someone who is thoroughly done with everyone and their shit.

Manhunter grins and suggests "Perhaps... Kent." I know that look. That's the look of 'I am casually aggravating right now and when they find out they can't oppose it without looking like an a-hole.'

Whatever it is clearly flies directly over Megan's head because she comments, "Oh! In memory of Doctor Fate. The late, Kent Nelson!"

He pauses for a moment, "Of... course..." Oh yeah. He's definitely stirring shit right now. I like this guy!

"Ok. sure... I guess it would be an honor. or somethin'." He doesn't seem to care much about the first and only name he'll get to pick for himself.

"Okay Conner Kent. Time to change your shirt." He looks at us with confusion set in his features. "You don't want to reveal your secret identity!" She reminds him that he has one to protect now.

In response he just flips his costume t-shirt inside out and puts it back on. "Will this work." he doesn't really ask. I almost say no because, let's face it, that is probably the least careful way to 'hide' your identity, but then I see the blush just about consuming Megan's now pink face in a bright red and leave them be. "Works for me..." she says with dreamy eyes.

The newly dubbed 'Conner' turns to me and asks, "Bats said you were coming to school with us. What are you doing?"

I roll my eyes to match his sarcasm levels easily, "Well, I don't exactly fit in and I STILL haven't figured out how to change my outfit. So school is kinda out of the question for now since everyone will know I'm a dead man walking." Everyone in the room groans and Conner just glares at me so I try to top my pun. "What can I say? It's not easy being green." I tease with a pointed flash of my unnatural, glowing green eyes. Then I realize my audience and quickly apologize to the two martians in the room, at least I made Megan giggle. Thinking about it, she's probably the only one in the room who would get a Kermit the Frog reference. Heh. The more you know, right?

Megan hands me a bagged lunch anyway with a sweet smile and then follows after Conner towards our new school. Manhunter follows suit, I guess he's the designated driver.

As they make their way out I lock eyes with Kaldur, "Would you mind sparring against me? I still feel like I'm behind..." 

He nods graciously, "Of course. Practice makes perfect. And if we are to work as team we need to know each other as well as we do ourselves." he speaks with the level of sage wisdom that a monk would probably have. So I, of course, am obligated to scoff, "What did you get that out of a fortune cookie?" 

He looks like he might actually tell me where he pulled the quote from, but he gets distracted by his comm going off. I listen carefully. It's not quite eavesdropping since we never stopped walking towards the gym, but I know it's still not the most proper thing to do. 

"It's me. I may, possibly, be in over my head." The voice from early mutter dejectedly.

Aqualad nods, "Alright I'm on my way and bringing backup. We got a new recruit and I think you'll like him." he smiles at me.

The unification is unthinkable!" "Our peoples don't have anything in common!" The two ambassadors yell at each other, Lex Luthor the only thing sitting between both the two of them and nuclear war.

"Gentlemen. This is mere rhetoric. Despite your differences you still share an appreciation for many things. Such as, the exquisite art of the Rhelasian tea ceremony."

Oriental music begins to play as a lady dressed as a Geisha (that's more Chinese than Rhelasian in my book, but whatever...) wheels a cart full of tea supplies. She has a wicked grin on her face and for a moment I'm unable to place it, but I realize just as Aqualad announces her to the crowd. Breaking his cover.

"That is far enough." he brandishes his water bearers, "Cheshire."

Roy and Mercy take aim on her from behind the delegates table and I raise up some ice just for her.

She frowns and clicks a button the handle of her cart and it starts beeping. Oh no.... A bomb... Cheshire rams it at the delegation and, acting on impulse, I freeze her cart to the ground.

Thankfully Kaldur was already pulling water from the glasses on the table and managed to shield us all while Roy shot her cart through the last crack in the shield. Man, these guys must have been working together for years to know each would have the others part of the plan understood. The blast goes off, the windows are blown out, Kaldur is over exerted and Cheshire is hurt. 

Roy raises his bow at her muttering the oh-so-cliche "It's over Cheshire." She gets to her feet and cockily replies, "You would think so." As a chopper edges up to the broken windows, inside Sportsmaster is waiting. 

I groan "You've gotta be f*cking kidding me." 

The Rhelasian ambassador behind me shouts something in his language and dozens of bodyguards rush into action, crowding the battle ground and failing miserably against Cheshire's skills as she flips them over her shoulder and bowls over several with one of their comrades. Several of Sportsmaster's tactically dressed, but clearly martial arts trained and not military, goons jump out of the helicopter, carrying shotguns and swords. 

Red Arrow notches an arrow and growls out, "Take Sportsmaster; Cheshire's mine." to the two of us. I roll my eyes and nod in agreement as Cheshire teasingly moans "Mmm. So territorial and only our third date..." to which Red responds with an arrow to her face that she easily deflects with her twin sais. I fly around their lover's battle while Kaldur shows off a complicated flip over it that Cheshire could have probably knocked out of the air if she had been paying enough attention. Or if she cared about her teammate's safety. It's no secret that her and Sportsmaster don't get along. I wonder why they keep getting put on the same missions. 

The Rhelasian guards aren't doing much better against Sportsmaster either. Granted, they are only armed with billy-clubs, but he's unarmed and you are supposed to be trained fighters. Dear deities that I do not believe in, how in the heck do these idiots keep their jobs? Kaldur's waterbearers nearly headshot Sportsmaster so he slides a baseball bat out of it's sheath on his back. I take out a goon or two when suddenly Cheshire taunts Red Arrow loudly enough for the entire room to hear over the fighting. Smart move...

"You called your little sidekick friends... But didn't you tell me they weren't in your league?" Kaldur looks back at Red Arrow with a pained look in his eyes and I shout "Look out!" but he only turns his head back to the fight in time to see Sportmaster clothesline him at the neck. And he hits the ground HARD. 

"Hey! I'll have you know that I've always been my own hero!" I spit back at Cheshire who bats her eyes with a "my mistake..." as Arrow hits her with his bow. I hover between Sportsmaster and Kaldur to give him a chance to recover, but Sportsmaster pulls out what looks like the end of a mace, but on a chain and all I can think is, "Oh for fuck's sake!" He spins it quickly behind his back, then swings it at me, and I turn intangible, but I wasn't thinking about Kaldur... 'You never look out for your friends, you just dodge every time... Some hero you are.' a voice that I can't put my finger on calls from the back of my memory. "No." I tell myself. Calling upon my cryokinesis (ten dollar word if I ever heard one. Suck it Mr. Lancer!) I freeze the puddle on the ground up into a small shield for Kaldur, but he rolls out of the way anyway, so I just had a mini-freak out for nothing. Whatever, no big deal. I decide to freeze the mace to the ground for good measure though. 

Looking up, I see that Luthor is just watching the fight blankly without any concern for his or the summit's safety on his face. Cheshire and Red are fairly evenly matched normally, but she's much better at close combat, so he's having a hard time keeping her in his firing range. There are a few ninjas and bodyguards still duking it out, but most of them have been taken out so there's that. Kaldur jumps to his feet and that draws my attention back to Sportsmaster and the fencing foil that he's now using expertly. At first I wasn't concerned about it, since foils are generally blunt and only capable of bruising, so I jumped right in, setting a large ectoblast into his stomach (that's gonna smart for days jackass), but it turns out that this one is somehow razor sharp and it catches me across the torso. 

Heh... looky there. My unfocused vision catches on green blood that's covering my hands. I've dropped to my knees, but I don't remember doing that and distantly I hear Kaldur shouting... something and the sound of metal on waterbearers. The sprinkler system goes off, nearly drowning me and then there's a handful of explosions followed by silence and someone running their fingers slowly across the wound. As I start to come out of that weird 'blood-loss' daze, I start to realize that they're stitching it shut and that it isn't just anyone, it's Kaldur. "wha-" I cough out some water as Kaldur glares at me. "That was incredibly unwise my friend." I snort derisively, "S'not my fault he had a stupid fencing foil." He pulls a stitch extra tight and I wince. "If it was harmless, why would he use it as a weapon." he nearly growled. "You're lucky it didn't k-" Now it's my turn to glare. "Well, you only die once." I snark back. 

Red Arrow steps forward and tries to break this up, but I turn on him too. "And you! You're a dick! Why would you give an enemy that kind of verbal ammunition? Cheshire's distraction nearly cost Kaldur his head! If we're so beneath you, why would you ask-" "Enough!" Kaldur cuts me off. "Go back to the bioship, Spectre. The treaty was signed so we have no business here anymore." "Fine." I turn invisible and stomp out of the room before floating back in. 

"So this is it." Kaldur states stoically. "Is it? I heard what Sportsmaster said. Do you really think there's a mole on your team feeding him intel?" Arrow responds casually as if it isn't red alert level news. What the fu-"I can't rule out the possibility. I will investigate. Quietly." Kaldur knows too? "Not tell them?" Red sputters with a shocked expression that matches my own. "I don't want the unit unraveling over baseless suspicions and if there is a mole I have no desire to tip him or her off." Okay... good point, but bro! "Good luck with that." Red mock salutes and heads off before Aqualad stops him.

"One moment my friend, tonight you could have called green arrow for help or the justice league. Instead, your first instinct was to call the cave." He mimics my words in a more tactful manner. "You're right... The team deserves- Has my respect. I'm still getting used to this solo act stuff, but if you need me I'll be there." He shakes Kaldur's hand on this. Okay, maybe not 100% a dick, but hey! What can I do?

Kaldur moves to return to the ship and I rush to the passenger seat, lounging sideways casually. I barely made it into my seat before he walked in. "What took you so long?" I yawn. He shrugs off my question with a "Merely 'catching up' as M'egan would put it." walking towards the wheel, but he must have thought of something that stopped him in his tracks. He runs his eyes the length of my wound that has nearly closed, "Are you feeling any better?" Oh shit. He sounds genuinely distraught (heavy on the dis... Dammit Rob!) "Of course! Takes a whole lot more than a fencing foil to kill me." I grin at my own dark wordplay. 

"On that topic. I assumed that your physiology would prevent injury or at least the symptoms of one." He tactfully dances around the words ghost and death despite my pun. 

"Well, you could do pretty much anything and it wouldn't be the end of me. Drowning, poisons and blunt force weapons only make me super uncomfortable. Fire sucks since I've got an ice-core, but I could always go intangible and then it would suck less. Other than the rare ghost weapon that not only works but really sucks, that's about it." I muse casually on things that could actually harm me now. 

"Hurmmm..." Kaldur looks skeptical, "Forgive me for my bluntness but you looked incredibly ill today and lost a lot of erm... blood."

"Ghosts with more ectoplasmic energy are more stable and I have a lot left over from the way I died the first time. Higher level ghosts are more "human" I guess. If you didn't know, ghosts have obsessions, they may have been normal when they were alive, but when you're short on ectoplasm, you get filtered down to your most basic state. Basically, the more powerful the ghost, the more human they are. Not to say that a powerful ghost can't be a complete froot-loop, but same with the living I guess." Try to explain the best I could, but I'm no ecto-biologist. 

"wait... What's..." He seems a bit shocked, so I cut him off.

"Honestly, I used to not know. Being half ghost and all... But now I do. You see, the ghostzone is entirely made of ectoplasm. Ghosts can't exactly die again, but if they lose enough ectoplasm they'll disperse and create new ghosts. I'm not quite certain on that process since I'm not your garden variety ghost and everyone I know who was doesn't remember it, but hey! I betcha Plasmius knows." I end cheerily to try and balance out this entire conversation's darkness, but I totally failed at that.

"No. What's your obsession..." He looks calculatingly at me.

I don't meet his eyes. "I have no idea..."


End file.
